Seven Stones: Part Eight-Three
Previously on Seven Stones: Kobb exhausts himself killing possessed horses. With the last of the beasts dead, Inductor Anserth orders her men to destroy the compound and move out without her. Haelen challenges her reasons. When Anessa leaps to Anserth’s defence, the Inductor claims her apparent friendship was just a ploy.
Kobb pinched the bridge of his nose in the hope of clearing the fog, if only for a moment. Would Anessa feel better or worse if he tried to comfort her? Running boots and sobbing told him the decision had been made for him. A breath later, Haelen sprinted after her.
Guilt mixed with relief, Kobb looked down at Anserth. Driving Anessa away meant losing the only person who’d have let her join them without a thought; and an Inductor wouldn’t throw an asset like that away. Someone who didn’t want Anessa to just be an asset, though… Driving her away was the most efficient course. “If you come, you’ll do what Haelen tells you when it comes to health. And what I say for everything else.”
Anserth grinned. “To be honest, I expected you to claim you didn’t need another soldier; or claim you’d more people back at your camp.”
“I considered it. Then you put Anessa’s happiness above convincing us.”
